Feather-curling machine.



A. E. ZUMPE.

FEATHER CURLING'MACHINE. APPLICATION HLED AuG.1,1913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

jg 276' Z7 zu 4 SHEETS-'sassy 1. f 7 fd I/ NORRIS PETERS C.. PHoTG-LITHO.. WASHINGTON, D. C.

TH E

.,A; E. ZUMPE.

FEATHER CURLING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED Aue. I. 1913.

1,142,868. PaIenIedJune 15, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 79

Fay. 2. 0

THE NDRRIS PETERS CQ, PHOTOLKITHOI. WASHINGTON, D4 C.

A. E. ZUMPE.

`FEATHER CURLING MACHINE. APPLICATION F1150 Aue.1. 1913.

1,142,868. Patented June 15, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE MORRIS PETERS CU., PHOTOLITHU.. WASHINGTON, D. C.

FEATHER CURLING MACHINE.

APPLIcmoN FILED AuG.1.1913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 Hill- 11 THE NORRIS PETERS CO1. PHOTO-LITHO, WASHINGTON. D. C.

ARTHUR E. ZUMPE, OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

FEATHER-CURLING- MACHINE.

Application filed August 1, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. ZUMPE, a citizen of Germany, residing at Englewood, county of Bergen, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Feather- Curling Machine, of which the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to a novel machine for automatically curling the flues of ostrich and other feathers.

It is well known that natural feathers and also feathers used in the manufacture of boas and similar articles must be curled so as to impart to them the rich and full hang desired. By my invention, this curling is effected in a superior manner without the use of skilled labor and in a rapid anduniform manner.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly'in section, of a feather curling machine embodying my invention: Fig. 2, an end view thereof; Fig. 3, a vertical cross section; Fig. 4, an enlarged central cross section` through the upper part of the machine; Fig. 5, a longitudinal section through the yoke and adjoining parts; Fig. 6, a detail view, partly in section of the feather holder and feeding means; and Fig. 7, a detail view of the presser bar oscillating means. i

My feather curling machine comprises a pair of standards 10 which are connected at their top by a yoke'll. To the latter is secured in suitable manner, a centrally disposed longitudinal rail 12 which is'recessed at its top as at 13 to form a guide way for a holder 14 adapted to receive one or more feathers to be curled. This holder is shown to consist of a lower bar 15 which is longitudinally grooved at its top as at 16 for the reception of the feather quill and of an upper clamp bar 17, which carries at its lower side a rubber pad 18, and may be removably attached to bar 15 by suitable clamping means, screws 19 having been shown in the drawing. In order to prevent a lateral displacement of the feather, groove 16 is flanked by rows of pins or combs 20 between which the feather flues are accommodated.

eans are provided for intermittently advancing holder 14 along rail 12 for which purpose, bar 15 is provided at its lower side with a rack 21 accommodated within a longitudinal channel 22 which is formed within rail 12 below recess 13. Rack 21 is adapted Specification of Letters Patent.

` vPatented June 15, 1915. semi No. 782,413.

to be engaged bya spring-influenced pawl 23 mounted within a corresponding recess 24 of a slide 25 which is guided within channel 22 below rack 21 and is influenced by a spring 25a. rIo slide 25 isfulcrumed a link 26 which is, in turn, pivoted to one arm of a lever 27, the other arm of which carries a cam roller 28. Lever 27 is influenced bv a spring 29 which tends to force roller 28 toward a cam disk 30 fast on the main shaft 31 of the machine. Shaft 31 is mounted in bearing blocks 32 carried by standards 10, shaft 31 receiving continuous rotary motion from a power shaft 33 through a worm gear 34. It will be seen that during each rotation of shaft 31, slide 25 will be once reciprocated so as to intermittently advance holder 14. In order to. regulate the stroke of slide 25, lever 27 is provided with a set screw 35 that is adapted to engage a stationary` abutment 36.

During the periods when holder 14 is at rest, the feather-llues projecting laterally from the holder, are subjected to the action of the curling means proper. These means act simultaneously upon consecutive portions of the flues that extend in opposite directions from the feather-quill. As the curling means on both sides of rail 12 are duplicates, the description of one set of such means will also apply to the other set.

The curling means comprise essentially an oscillating blade or knife 37 and a likewise oscillating resilient presser bar or cushion 38 that is spring-pressed toward the knife during the outward movement thereof, as will hereinafter be more fully disclosed. Knife 37 is by top plate 39 and screws 40 secured to a beam 41 which is shown to be provided with a longitudinal bore adapted for the reception of an electric heating coil 42. Beam 41 is secured to the forked end 43 of a bent lever 44 which turns looselv on a shaft 45 mounted in bearings 46. Lever 44 is provided with a lower arm 47 carrving a cam roller 48 which is, by spring 49, forced toward a cam 50 fast on main shaft 31. Cam 50 is so shaped that beam 41 will be first slowly swung outward, and will then remain at a standstill in its outer position to besubsequently quickly returned to its original position. y

Bar 38 is. by screws 51 removably secured to a rail 52 that extends in parallelism with beam 41. `Rail 52 is in turn by screws 53 secured to a block 5e, the screws passing through corresponding elongated holes 55 of block 51, so that bar 38 may be readily adjusted toward or away from knife 37. At its ends, block 54 is provided with gudgeons 56 that are journaled within corresponding bores of a pair of levers 57. The latter turn loosely on shaft 45 and have lower arms 58 which are provided with cam rollers 59. These rollers engage a pair of like cams 60 fast on main shaft 31 against which they are held by springs 61 so that they will uniformly swing` inward and outward and thus impart the desired oscillating movement to presser har 38. 1n order to reduce the number of parts to a minimum, the levers 57 of the other bar 38 are firmly secured to shaft 4-5 while but one of said levers is provided with an arm 58a the cam roller of which engages a cam 66a of shaft 31. Thus cam 60a will rock shaft Ll5 whereby both levers 572L are uniformly oscillated to likewise swing the corresponding bar 38.

As thus far described it will be seen that the feather to be curled is first properly clamped to holder' 141 whereupon the latter is inserted from the right (Fig. 1.), into recss 13 of rail 12 until pawl 23 engages rack 21. r1`he machine is then started by suitable means, to intermittently advance holder 1e and curl the flue portions that are consecutively subjected to the action of knives 37 and presser bars 38. For this purpose, the movements of holder 14, knives 37 and presser bars 38 are so timed that as soon as holder 141 comes to a temporary standstill, each knife 37 has started itsinward movement while the presser bar 38 still occupies its outermost position. As during the subsequent curling operation the feather-fines A must be dravui by presser bars 38 over the edges of knives 37, care should be taken, that no flues be caught between rail 12 and beam vf1 during the inward movement of the knives. F or this purpose, yoke 11 is partly cut out beneath rail 12 as at 62 so as to accommodate the web 63 of a U-shaped plunger or flue-lifter, the shanks 64 of which straddle rail 12. Immediately after holder 14 has come to a temporary stop, the plunger is raised 'so that shanks 641 will bend flues n. upward and vbring them out of contact with the inwardly moving knives. As soon as the latter have completed their inward movement, shanks 6 are lowered to permit fines t to settle by gravity upon the knives.

ln order to assure that all of the flues are properly grasped by the 'now inwardly moving pressure bars and drawn over the` knife edges a pair of plunirers or flueffdep'ressers 65 are provided that are loweredjimmediatelv upon the descent of Shanks 64 `and are again raised directly before the approach of the inwardly moving pressure bars. ln

this way the latter will properly grasp all of the flues and draw them over the knifeedges, while additional spreaders 66 that cooperate with plungers 65 will cause a uniform distribution of the flues upon the knives.

T he several plungers hereinabove referred to are operated in the following manner: The web 63 of the flue lifting plunger is provided with a depending stem 67 that is slidably mounted within a bearing 68 forming part of yoke 11. The lower end of stem 67 is engaged by a lever 69 fulcrumed at 70 and operatively connected at its free end to a vertically reciprocative piston 71 which is normally lowered by a spring 72, so that shanks 6% are also normally lowered out of engagement with the feather-nues A. it its lower end, piston 71 carries a roller 73 which is adapted to be engaged by a cam 74 fast on shaft 31. rlhus whenever the raised portion of cam 74: engages roller 73, shanks 64 are raised tc correspondingly lift the flues A. The flue-depressers 65 are secured to the lower ends of a pair of verticallyT ciprocative rods 75 which are guided within suitable brackets 76.` The latter are shown to be secured to a stem 77 extending` upwardly from a bridge 78 carried by yoke 11. 1litods 75 are connected by a traverse 7 9, while springs 80 interposed between brackets 76 and said traverse, tend to maintain depressers 65 in their raised position. l-.Vithin a tubular boss 81 of traverse 79 is guided a plunger 82 headed as at 83 and forked at its lower end where it carries an antifriction roller 8e a spring 85 being interposed between head 83 and boss 81. Roller 811 is engaged by a lever 86 fast on a spindle 87 that turns in a bearing 88. To the outer ends of spindle 87 are secured levers 89 pivoted to vertically movable rods 90 which are guided in bearings 91 and have heads 92. Rods 90 are mutually connected by a traverse 93 provided with a roller 94 that is adapted to engage a cam 95 of shaft 31, springs 96, 97 being respectively interposed between the parts 91, 92 and 91, 93. lt will be seen that whenever the bulged section of cam 95 engages roller 911, depressers 65 will be lowered, the interposition of the several spr'ngs preventing an injury to the attendant so that should his fingers be accidentally caught by the depressers, said springs will take up the strain and prevent a further descent thereof. Spreaders66 are provided with upwardly extending stems 98 that are guided within corresponding brackets 99 secured to the ends of depressers 65. Stems 98 carry relatively fixed collars 100, which are engaged by springs 101 tending to lower spreaders 66.

ln order to properly confine holder 141 within recess 13 during its longitudinal movement, stem 77 is made tubular for the accommodation of a plunger 102 the lower forked end 103 of which carries a pressure roller 104 that is adapted to engage clamp bar 17 of holder 14. Roller 104 is normally depressed by a spring 105 interposed between fork 103 and a centrally apertured plug 106 that is tapped into stem 77, a pin 107 limiting the play of roller 104. To prevent presser bar 38 from abutting against the edge of knife 37 when completing its inward stroke, means are provided for swinging said bar downward on its gudgecns during the last parts of its inward stroke. These means are shown to consist of an arm 108 secured to one of the gudgeons 56 of each block 54. Arm 108 is provided with a projection 109 which is engaged by a spring 110 that tends to turn block 54 so as to carry bar 38 into engagement with knife 37, the

upward stroke of said bar being limited by an abutment 111 that is adapted to be engaged by projection 109. To arm 108 is pivoted at 112 a tappet 113 influenced by spring 114 and adapted to engage a fixed stop 115 of yoke 11. It will thus be seen that slightly' before the completion of the inward movement of bars 38, tappets 113 will abut against stops 115 so as to tilt arms 108 against the action of springs 110, thereby swinging the bars away from knives 37. @wing to the pivotal connection Lbetween each tappet 113 and its arm 108 said tappet will finally be tilted relatively to arm 108, so as to slip olf stop 115 and permit spring 110 to swing bar 38 toward knife 37 before the outward movement of the parts 37, 38 takes place. The tension of spring 110 is made regulable by means of a pair of adjusting nuts 116 so that the pressure with which bar 38 is forced against knife 37 may be readily adapted to feathers of different thicknesses, etc. in order to properly regulate the distance to which bar 38 may be projected under knife 37, the levers 57, 57, and 57a, 574, are connected by cross bars 117 into which set screws 118 are tapped that engage the respective levers 44. To the top of standards 10 is secured a work table 119 that serves as a temporary support for holder 14,

while the feathers are secured to the latter.

I wish it to be understood that various changes may be made in the particular construction illustrated and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: v

l. A feather curling machine comprising a holder, adapted to engage a feather-quill, a blade arranged sidewise of said yholder and adapted to edgewise engage the feather-flues, a presser bar adapted to hold said flues against the blade, and means for oscillating said blade and bar.

2. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a pair of blades arranged at opposite sides thereof and having outer longitudinal curling edges, presser bars adapted to engage the blades, and means for oscillating said blades and bars. y

3. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a pair of bladesarranged at opposite sides thereof and having outer longitudinal curling edges, means for heating said blades, resilient presser bars adapted to engage the blades, and means for oscillating said blades and bars.

4. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a blade arranged sidewise of said holder and adapted to edgewise engage the feather-fines, a resilient presser bar adapted to engage the blade, means for regulating the pressure between the blade and presser bar, and means for oscillating said blade and bar.

5. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a blade having a longitudinal curling edge and adapted to oscillate toward and away from said holder, means for raising the featherflues while said blade is swung toward the holder and underneath said iiues, means for subsequently lowering the flues over the blade-edge, a presser bar adapted to press the lowered fiues against the blade, and means for swinging said presser bar away from the holder in unison with the blade.

6. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, means for intermittently advancing said holder, a pair of blades arranged at opposite sides of the holder .and having outer curling edges, presser bars adapted to engage the blades, and means for oscillating said blades and bars.

7. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, means for intermittently advancing said holder, a pair of blades arranged at opposite sides of the holder and having outer curling edges, presser bars adapted to engage the blades, means for oscillating said blades and bars toward and away from the holder, and regulable means for limiting the inward stroke of the bars.

8. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a pair of blades arranged at opposite sides of the holderv and having outer curling edges, resilient presser bars adapted to engage the blades, means for oscillating said blades and bars toward and away from the holderand regulable means for limiting the inward stroke of the bars.`

9. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a blade arranged sidewise of said holder and adapted to edgewise engage the featherflues, means for oscillating said blade toward and away from the holder, apresser bar adapted to hold the feathenflues against said blade, a lever to which said bar is rotatably secured, a spring operatively connected to the bar and tending to draw the latterl against the, blade, and means for oscillating said lever.

l0. A feather curlingV machine comprising a holder adaptedto engage a feather-quill, a blade arranged sideWise of said holder and adapted to edgeyvise engage the featherflues, neans for oscillating said blade tovvard and away from the holder', a presser bar adapted to hold the feather-lines against said blade, a lever to which said bar is rotatably secured. an adjustable spring operatively connected to the bar and tending to draw the latter against the blade, means for oscillating the lever toward and away from the holder, and regulable means for limiting the stroke of the lever toward the holder.

ll. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, a blade arranged sideivise of said holder and adapted to edgeyvise engage the feather'- flues, means for oscillating said blade toward and away from the holder, a presser bar adapted to hold the feather-fines against the blade, gudff'eous on said bar, levers that loosely support the gudgeons, an arm firmly secured to one of said gudgeons, a spring influencing said arm, a tappet fulcrumed to the arm, a fixed abutment adapted to be engaged by the tappet, and means for oscillating the lever.

l2. A feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, a. pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges, and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

13. feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, a feather fine-lifter straddling the rail, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges, and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

141-. A feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, a feather flue-lifter straddling the rail, means for vertically reciprocating said lifter, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges` and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

l5. A feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, a feather flue-lifter straddling the rail, a. feather flue-depresser, means for consecutively operating said lifter and depresser, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges, and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

16. A feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, a feather flue-lifter straddling the rail, a feather flue-depresser, a feather fluespreader yieldingly secured to said depresser, means for consecutively operating said lifter and depresser, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges, and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

17. A feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, a feather flue-lifter straddling the rail, means for vertically reciprocating the lifter, a feather flue-depresser, yielding means for vertically reciprocating said depresser, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges, and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

18. A feather curling machine comprising a rail, a feather holder supported thereby, means for intermittently advancing said holder, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges. and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

19. A feather curling machine comprising a rail. a feather holder supported thereby, regulable means for intermittently advancing` said holder, a pair of oscillative blades arranged at opposite sides of the rail and having curling edges, and oscillative presser bars adapted to engage the blades.

20. e. feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-Quill, curling members arranged at opposite sides thereof. each of said members underlving a. plurality of feather flues. and means effecting an operative yengagement betnsaid flues and members.

2l. A feather curling machine comprising a holder adapted to engage a feather-nulli, curling members arranged at opposite sides thereof. each of said members underlyingplurality of feather flues.l means for effecting a frictional engagement between said members and flues. and means for simultaneously moving said curling members away from the quill.

22. A feather curling machine cominisinga holder adapted to engage a feather-quill, means for intermittentlv advancing seid holder. curling members flanking the holder and adapted to engage the feather-fines. and means for effecting an opera tive engagement between said dues and curling members.

ARTHUR E., Zllltf TWitnesses FRANK v. Bemelen, Fammi ELMAN.

@entes el. this patent may he chtaned. for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of fatenta.

Washington, D. C. 

